


The Spaces Between

by Drogna



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Five has issues, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, The Android is Awesome, Three is High, Two fixes everyone, Wish I'd Spaced You When I Had the Chance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 19:43:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10543269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drogna/pseuds/Drogna
Summary: Missing scenes from "Wish I'd Spaced You When I Had the Chance". Three bleeds and is a bad patient, Five is worried that everything is her fault, and Two sorts everyone out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Matter or its characters and I make no money from writing this.
> 
> This has been sat on my hard drive for a while, because I wanted more than just one Infirmary scene, and I liked the idea of Three being a bit loopy and unguarded on painkillers.
> 
> This starts just as they're leaving the planet with an injured Three.

Three was pale and it worried Two that he hadn’t even got the strength to keep his weapon trained on Kierken. He’d clearly held it up for as long as he could manage, and the rest of the crew had arrived just in time. She’d seen the relief in his eyes at their arrival, and it was more than just his usual thankfulness that he had backup.

“Over there,” said Two, indicating that Kierken and his men should get away from Three.

Four and Six helped to get Three up from his position leaning against the rock, and he let out a groan as he made it to his feet. It didn’t look like he was going to manage to stand for long, but he was doing his best to pretend that he wasn’t resting heavily on his fellow crew members. Luckily it wasn’t far to the shuttle. Five looked like she wanted to help but didn’t know quite what to do, and she hovered a couple of steps behind them.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Two, covering Kierken and his GA troops as she backed away.

“This is far from over,” said Kierken.

“It is today,” replied Two.

Everyone was well aware that their standoff wouldn’t last for long and they needed to move rapidly now. Three was breathing hard as they quickly walked him towards the Marauder, with Nyx and Two keeping their weapons trained on the GA Inspector. Their injured crewmate stumbled a couple of times but Four and Six kept him moving until he was on the ramp and into the shuttle. Not a word was said about Three’s condition or that he probably shouldn’t be being moved like this at all. The rear guard followed, dashing onto the Marauder seconds before Kierken decided that he’d give chase after all. Two hit the button to close the door as soon as everyone was in and they heard the sound of gun fire outside. Six and Four helped Three to stagger the last few steps to a seat. He sat down heavily, almost falling, which elicited another pained groan. Even when he was sitting down, he didn’t look at all comfortable, which Two supposed was only to be expected.

“Go,” said Two, as Six moved forwards and took the pilot’s seat. Six nodded and powered up the engines. The fire was now hitting their hull, although wouldn’t do much damage unless they had more of those rocket launchers that Five has used to clear their landing pad.

As the other crew members took their seats, Five had crouched down in front of Three and had lightly taken hold of the fingers of his right hand. Three’s fingers were caked in his own blood but strangely he hadn’t told her to stop being sentimental and get lost. Two briefly wondered what had happened down on the planet to let Three feel comfortable with this gesture, but she had to turn her attention to getting everyone back to the Raza safely.

“Four, radio the Android. Tell her Three’s been shot and we’re bringing in a medical emergency.”

Four nodded and got on the radio.

“Five, take your seat,” said Two.

“He needs help,” said Five, indicating the shivering man. Three looked pretty awful.

 “Kid, do as she says,” said Three, his voice clouded with pain and shaky, “it could get bumpy if they decide to do some more shooting at us and we don’t need another casualty from this little jaunt.”

Five looked like she was going to argue, so Two cut in before she could. “Get me the first aid box, then take your seat. I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

“It won’t take us long to get back to the Raza,” said Six, with a glance back at Five, as the Marauder lifted into the air. “We’ll have him in the Infirmary in no time.”

Five still looked like she wanted to argue but went over and grabbed the box by the door that held their first aid supplies. She handed it to Two, and grudgingly took the seat diagonally in front of Three. She twisted herself round so that she could keep an eye on him. Two ignored her and busied herself with examining the contents of the first aid box. It had bandages, sterile dressings and some useful drugs with an injector, but no oxygen. She loaded a vial into the injector and stabbed Three in the neck with the medicine. He jerked at the unexpectedly sharp prick of the needle.

“Ow! What was that?”

“Painkiller,” replied Two.

“A warning would have been appreciated,” said Three. His eyes fell shut as he finished the sentence, barely completing the final word.

“Hey, no sleeping,” said Two.

“But ’m tired,” said Three, with slight annoyance in his tone and more shivering, but he did open his eyes again.

“Yeah, that’s the blood loss,” said Two. She undid the front of Three’s jacket and peeled back his t-shirt from the wound. It didn’t look good and she could imagine how painful it must be.

“We sterilised it with alcohol and cauterised it,” said Five, explaining but still managing to sound a little guilty. Two could imagine that it hadn’t been pleasant for either Five to do or Three to experience. “He screamed.”

“Did not,” said Three, tiredly. “I yelled.”

“That’s what I said,” replied Five.

“Men don’t scream. Little girls scream,” said Three, leaning heavily on his good side.

Two glanced back at Five. “It was the right thing to do, but it didn’t work completely. The wound hasn’t closed.” She grabbed a bandage from the kit and pressed it against the wound. Three flinched with a sharp intake of air.

“Your painkillers aren’t worth a damn,” mumbled Three, his words slurring at the edges. His eyes fell closed again.

“I said “no sleeping”,” said Two, and tapped Three on the cheek.

He pulled his eyes open, with clear effort and his head swayed as he looked at her. “You’re as bad as her.” His eyes flicked over towards Five.

Two pulled him forwards a little so that she could apply more bandages to the exit wound. Again he gritted his teeth, but apparently the pain was too much or he’d just lost too much blood. His eyes closed and this time, didn’t open again. Then his head flopped forwards and Two was pretty certain that he’d just passed out. She held two fingers to his neck, checking for his pulse. It was fast, but still rhythmic, however his skin was cool and clammy.

“Is he okay?” asked Five, worriedly.

“He’s just passed out. He needs plasma to replace what he’s lost, but it doesn’t look like the bullet hit anything important.”

Two pressed a bandage against the entry wound and watched as it slowly soaked through with Three’s blood. She wasn’t going to tell Five that even if the bullet hadn’t hit anything important then it had still torn through arteries and veins, and that meant substantial blood loss, which was very bad. Judging by his blood-soaked clothing, Three had definitely been bleeding for some time already.

It was a tense few minutes as they ascended through the clouds and out into the stars. Six piloted them smoothly towards the ship and took them the quickest possible route. Finally he brought them into dock, and they waited for what seemed to be an interminable amount of time for the lock to cycle so that they could disembark. The door opened to reveal the Android waiting by the doors with a gurney.

“How long ago did the injury occur?” asked the Android, while Two and Six lifted the unconscious Three onto the gurney.

“Uh, I’m not sure,” said Five. “I don’t know how long we were wandering around in the woods.”

“About six hours,” said Two.

“That long?” asked Five, despondently. She had her arms folded across herself protectively.

“That’s roughly when we lost contact, minus the hour or so that you said it took him to find you,” said Two.

The Android was fitting an oxygen mask over Three’s nose and mouth, as she and Six began wheeling her patient towards the Infirmary. Six had taken over clamping the bandage tightly to Three’s wound in the hope that pressure would slow the bleeding. Two was following, with Five close at her heels. The kid had her hands clenched in two fists at her side and Two didn’t ever think that she’d seen her this worried about anything. They reached the Infirmary and the Android lifted Three from the gurney to the scanner table. Two noticed that Five lingered by the door, her eyes fixed on Three. Three’s blood smeared the sheets of the gurney at about where his shoulder had been. It had soaked through the leather of his jacket.

The lights in the infirmary were bright and accentuated Three’s pale skin. The scanner bed lit up as the Android began her scans, and then waited the few seconds necessary for it to show them how bad the wound really was.

“He has lost a lot of blood, but there is no bullet in the wound,” said the Android. “However, it does appear that infection has set in. I will have to perform surgery to close the wound and he will need a blood transfusion and antibiotics.”

“I gave him some pain relief on the Marauder, but I’m not sure it helped much,” said Two.

“He will require more, but it will do for now. I will start an IV line and give him the required plasma and antibiotics. Then I will properly sedate him for surgery. His blood pressure is dropping and I must act quickly. I will also require an assistant.”

Six and Two exchanged looks. “I’ll do it,” they said simultaneously.

“Two assistants would be better than one,” added the Android, with barely any hesitation, and Two just nodded.

“Six, please maintain pressure on the wound,” said the Android. “Two, I will need you to remove Three’s clothes.”

Two opened her mouth to voice some sort of objection and then decided that now wasn’t the time to be prudish. She grabbed a large pair of scissors from the supply cupboard and began cutting off Three’s jacket. It was soaked in blood, but she still suspected that Three would be disappointed to find he’d lost it when he woke up.

The Android turned away to gather the supplies she needed. She picked items rapidly from the med cabinet, taking out a plasma unit and IV line. She moved back to her patient and began rigging up the transfusion. Three groaned and his eyes fluttered open, his head moving from side to side. His eyes searched his surroundings. He frowned in a confused way, and tried to push Six’s hand away and sit up.

“Hey, hey, stay down,” said Two, getting into Three’s line of sight.

Three was shaking his head. “Did we make it back? Is the kid okay?” His voice was muffled by the oxygen mask and only just audible.

Six put his other hand on Three’s good shoulder, pushing him back down on the scanner bed without having to expend much effort. “She’s fine. You just need to lie still and let the Android do her thing.”

Three’s breathing rate was increasing. His eyes blinked and they flicked from one face to the next.

“Three, you need to calm yourself,” said the Android. “You are experiencing confusion because you have sustained a gunshot wound that has led to substantial loss of blood.” She inserted an IV needle into a vein in Three’s arm and taped it down with rapid efficiency.

“Infirmary…?” he asked.

“Yes, you are back on the Raza,” said the Android.

“Now lie still while we help you,” said Two, as she removed the remaining pieces of his jacket and then started on his t-shirt.

“I liked that jacket,” mumbled Three, trying to raise his head but failing.

“You can always buy a new one,” said Six.

“Where’s Five?” asked Three, breathing hard.

“She’s here,” said Two, looking over to where the youngest member of their crew was watching everything.

Two indicated with an inclination of her head that Five could come over if she wanted, but she just shook her head, green curls bouncing. Two could see that she was looking at the growing pool of blood on the scanner table. It was worrying, but she had faith in the Android’s ability to fix this. Two was going to need to have a talk with Five, once she’d made sure that Three was going to be okay, but right now the Android was readying the anaesthesia and Two couldn’t drop what she was doing to find out what was going on with Five.

“Three, I’m going to give you the sedative now so that I can close your wound. You will be asleep for approximately an hour.” The Android was holding a large needle, which she injected into the IV port.

Three gave a half-hearted nod. “I was tired anyway…” and his eyes fell shut as the sedation hit his blood stream.

“Six, please remove the bandages from the wound at the front. We will leave the exit wound for now and concentrate on the entry” said the Android. “Both of you should put masks and gloves on. We will need to keep the operating area as sterile as possible.”

Two went back to the cupboards and found a box of latex gloves and two masks. Devon may have abandoned them without so much as a word, but he’d left them with a well-equipped infirmary. She handed a mask and a pair of latex gloves to Six, snapping on her own and then positioned the mask over her nose and mouth.

Six did likewise and the Android began her work to mend the damage and close the wound, starting with disinfecting and cleaning the wound. The hole where the bullet had entered was ragged and the flesh had puckered where the attempt at cauterisation had been made. It was an angry looking hole that went straight through Three’s shoulder and he’d been very lucky that it hadn’t been an inch or two lower and hit his heart or punctured a lung. Instead the bullet had managed to go through muscle, find the gap between his shoulder bones and leave an equally nasty exit wound.

Two finished removing Three’s clothes, leaving him his underwear, and covered him with a sterile blanket, whilst Six handed the Android tools as she needed them. The scanner indicated that a number of blood vessels needed to be repaired. It was delicate work, and not for the first time, Two was extremely glad of the Android’s medical programs.

“Please prepare injectors with adrenalin and haemox. We may need them shortly,” said the Android, and Two didn’t hesitate to follow her instructions. The Android had a direct feed into the medical systems and was constantly monitoring Three’s vital signs.

Moments later, loud beeps sounded from the scanner, indicating that Three’s blood pressure was crashing and if this was allowed to continue then his heart would stop.

“Please use the injectors now,” said the Android, with a calmness that none of the humans in the room could have managed if they’d been in her position.

Two used first one and then the other. Three’s skin had taken on a grey tinge that looked extremely unhealthy, but the monitors indicated almost immediately that the drugs had started working and his vitals were improving. The Android’s fingers were moving more quickly than Two had ever seen her work before as she finished the internal repairs and moved on to stapling the external wound closed.

“Help me to roll him so that I can have access to the exit wound,” said the Android.

Together they gently rolled their patient onto his side and Two and Six supported him whilst the Android repeated the cleaning and stapling procedure on the exit wound. Finally, she inserted the last clip and was done. She placed sterile dressings over the wounds, and then they gently moved Three to a bed where he could recover.

“Thank you for your assistance, I believe I can finish his treatment on my own from here,” said the Android.

Two nodded, looking at Three, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Six peeled off his gloves and removed his mask. “Okay. Call if you need any more help. I have a feeling he’s not the kind to want to stay in bed.”

“He is not alone in that,” said the Android, rather pointedly regarding Six. Two smiled at the dig. Six had ignored medical advice and come out to find them when they’d been chasing down Jace Corso, so this was rather the pot calling the kettle black.

“I’ll sit with him for a bit,” said Two, peeling off her own gloves and dropping them in the waste bin. “Someone should probably be here when he wakes up.” She turned towards the doorway, expecting to see Five, but apparently she’d left at some point while they were transferring Three to the bed. Two frowned. She’d have thought that Five would want to wait with her, but perhaps the operation had been too much for her.

The Android checked the IV lines and vital signs on the monitor, and then began to clean the blood off Three’s hands and arms.

Six gave a sigh, and with one last slightly concerned look at Three, left the Infirmary. Two moved one of the stools over to Three’s bedside and sat down. She waited until Six was definitely out of earshot and then spoke.

“Three’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”

“Assuming that these antibiotics are effective in combatting the infection and there are no unforeseen complications, he should make a full recovery. I have given him some stronger painkillers and he will need at least two more units of plasma to replace the blood that he has lost. He will also need several days to rest and recuperate.”

Two nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem, although I expect Six is right: he isn’t going to enjoy being laid up.”

“Indeed, but it is in his best interests to allow the wound time to heal,” said the Android. “I can provide sedation if it becomes necessary.”

Two laughed. “I think we’ll just try asking him first.”

The Android raised her eyebrows but seemed to agree. “Whatever you think is best.” She moved off to clean the scanner bed.

***

Three floated back to consciousness and dragged his eyes open. He blinked at the ceiling and realised that he felt rather disconnected from reality. He slowly took stock, because his brain wouldn’t run at any other speed than slow, and decided that he was drugged, probably pretty heavily. There was a blanket over him, a silver one of the type that they used in the Infirmary that would respond to body temperature. He could hear the hiss of oxygen and feel a tube running under his nose. His body felt distant, but as he tried to move there was a slight pull in his left shoulder that became a sharp pain if he kept trying to move. He stopped his attempts at movement because it wasn’t worth the hurt.

Suddenly the memory of him opening a door and a sharp pain hitting his shoulder surfaced violently into his conscious. He jerked backwards into the foam mattress of the bed, causing another wave of pain to ripple through his shoulder in real life. He felt too warm and sweat prickled on his skin.

He let out a low groan and tried to make sense of this new memory.

Oh. Now he remembered. He’d been shot by one of the bastards who’d taken Five.

“Hi there,” said a voice he recognised as Two.

He turned his head towards the words and he saw her sitting beside his bed. She blurred a little as he tried to get his eyes to focus on her.

“Hey,” he croaked. “So. Not dead.” He felt terrible though. She poured water into a cup and helped him to raise his head and sip it. He was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he needed help to even drink a cup of water.

“No, you’re not, but you’re not going to be doing cartwheels anytime soon either.”

Three rolled his eyes at that. It wasn’t his fault that some idiot has decided to shoot him and then the GA had got involved.

“So how long until I can get out of here?”

“The Android said it would be a few days.”

“Awesome,” said Three, sarcastically. “I love the Infirmary.”

“You’re lucky to be alive. Do you want to tell me what happened before I go and ask Five for her version?”

“Why do you think her version will be any different to mine?”

“Because I know you.”

Three sighed. He was so damn tired but he didn’t think Two would appreciate him falling asleep on her until he’d given her the complete run down of events.

“Some sons of bitches saw Five in the market and decided to kidnap her. I think they just wanted a pretty girl to sell to the highest bidder but I honestly didn’t think to ask them before I blew their brains out.”

“Okay, so you went after them and found Five. How?”

“A guy saw them take her and knew who they were. He drove me out to the farm but took off as soon as he dropped me off. I took out one of them in the woods and used his gun to deal with the others. They’d drugged the kid and she was a bit out of it, so I got her sat down and went to bring round their truck so that we could come back to the station. Anyway, I should have counted better, because that was when the last guy came back and shot me. Well, it was more of a mutual shooting, because I killed him and he only winged me.”

Two looked dubious. “That’s more than a wing. You’re lucky he didn’t hit you any lower or you’d have had a punctured lung or worse.”

Three attempted a shrug, but gave up when his left shoulder complained at the movement. “But he didn’t, and Five patched me up.”

“So why didn’t you just drive back?”

“The damn GA turned up just as we were about to leave. All we could do was head out on foot and hope for the best.”

“You split up.” It was said without emotion, but Three couldn’t help but take it as criticism.

“Yeah, because I didn’t want Kierken shooting the kid, or using her as a bargaining chip,” replied Three, slightly defensively.

“Hey, it’s okay, I think it was the right choice,” said Two. “I mean Five basically saved your life by setting off those explosives, otherwise we’d have had nowhere to land.”

Three frowned. “The kid did that? Wow. Remind me not to get on her bad side.” There was a pause in the conversation while Three concentrated on just breathing and feeling the floaty feeling that the drugs induced in him. “Whatever you guys gave me, I think you gave me too much… Everything’s… soft… and there’s two of you.” He blinked slowly.  He was now beyond tired and considering going back to sleep.

Two gave him an amused look. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” She glanced over at the monitors and frowned.

He followed her gaze but couldn’t focus on the monitors. “Something wrong?”

Two continued to look at the monitors. “It’s probably nothing.” She put her hand to her com. “Android, could you come to the Infirmary, please?”

Three couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but he guessed the Android was on her way.

“Has the kid been here?” he asked, because, although he’d have never admitted it to anyone, he was sort of worried about her after everything that had happened on the planet.

“She was, but I think it was too much. She left when the Android started stapling you back together.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to stay around for that either… glad I was… asleep…” His eyes closed, and he began to drift into sleep.

The Android arrived at that moment and jerked him out of the early stages of his dozing. He pulled his eyes open again. She regarded the monitors, getting that look she got when she was communicating with the ship.

“You have an elevated temperature, which is most likely due to the wound being infected,” said the Android, before Two could even tell her what she’d seen earlier. “I do not believe this is cause for concern unless Three’s temperature continues to rise. I will ensure that I monitor it closely.”

“Is there anything else we can do?” asked Two.

“Not at the moment,” replied the Android. “He is already receiving the required intravenous anti-biotics. His body simply needs time to fight the infection and recover.”

“Awesome,” said Three. “That explains why I feel like crap.”

“And tired, I would assume,” added the Android. “The most productive thing you can do is sleep. I can adjust your painkiller dosage in order to make you more comfortable.”

“I’ll sleep fine. I don’t need to be anymore loopy than I am…” He could barely keep his eyes open, so a few aches weren’t going to keep him from sleep. He closed his eyes properly this time.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want that,” said Two and he could hear the slight smirk in her voice.

He didn’t remember falling asleep but when he woke up, he could feel that time had passed and Two had been replaced beside his bed by Six.

“Really?” he asked, his voice croaky, as his eyes slowly brought his visitor into focus. “What do you want?”

“The Android said someone should be here to keep an eye on you,” said Six. “You’ve already tried to rip out your IV in your sleep once.”

“Huh,” was all Three could manage to that.

“Your temperature’s up a little more than it was, so you’re probably having fever dreams.”

“Yeah, so where’d Two go?” he asked, making it clear that he wasn’t pleased to see Six. He still felt terrible and didn’t really want to deal with him right now. His skin was damp with sweat and he shivered occasionally so he guessed that the infection was still running its course, which would fit with his temperature being up again.

“She was needed on the bridge. How many times am I going to have to save your life before you start trusting me again?”

“You didn’t save my life this time, that was Five. Where is she, anyway? I’d have thought she’d be down here prodding me to make sure I’m still breathing.”

A couple of expressions quickly travelled across Six’s face and were hidden. Three registered that something was up with that but his brain felt like it was stuffed with pillows and wouldn’t move quickly enough to work out what that was. Not that he was ever a quick study when it came to other people’s emotions.

“She’s probably fixing something,” said Six.

Three frowned, but he was tired and he couldn’t think straight. The painkillers were still wrapping him in the kind of comfortable numbness that meant he didn’t really have the mental strength to deal with anything more than lying in this bed.

“Yeah, well tell her I want a visit when she’s done.” His eyes were falling shut again and the drugs and fatigue were pulling at him to sleep. He mumbled his next sentence, hardly aware that he said it and definitely oblivious to any offense it would cause. “Anyone would be better than you.”

The only response from Six was a long sigh, and then Three was asleep again.

***

Two knew that something was up with Five but she wasn’t exactly sure what. She admitted that some fairly traumatic stuff had happened down on the planet but it wasn’t anything that Five couldn’t handle. They’d all been through a lot over the last couple of years and Five was pretty good at carrying on regardless. She had proven that she was as tough as the rest of the crew on several occasions, but Two wanted to find her and make sure that she was okay this time. There had been something about her reaction to Three’s surgery that was off.

However, Five was nowhere to be found and that worried Two even more. She’d gone to her quarters first but they were empty, so she’d checked the vents around them in the hopes that she’d find her there and drawn a blank. She couldn’t search all the vents on the ship, she didn’t have all day to waste on this, but she did want to find Five.

She touched her com. “Five, where are you?”

She received no answer, but she hadn’t really expected to.

“Android, can you locate Five?”

“Her com is in her quarters,” replied the Android.

Well, that explained that. “Okay, thanks.”

Two would have to do this the hard way. She began a search of the most likely places.

The Android’s voice came over her com a few moments later. “Two, I have additional information for you. The electrical systems on level 3, section B have just been repaired.”

Two nodded. Of course Five would want to work, and there was always plenty of maintenance to be done on the Raza. She headed down a deck, walked along the corridor and found Five, sat beside an open conduit, packing up her tools. “Thanks, Android, I’ve found her.”

Five heard her and with a sigh, replaced the conduit housing and closed her tool box.

She got close enough to Five that she could speak without shouting. “You left your com in your quarters.”

“I know,” said Five, “sorry, I just wanted some time to myself.”

Two walked the last few paces to close the gap between herself and Five, then she sat down on the deck beside her. She crossed her legs and gave Five an appraising look, her eyes taking in the rather unhappy expression on Five’s face. She hadn’t even changed since being down on the planet.

“Three was awake and asking for you. He wanted to make sure you were okay, and he wondered why you hadn’t come by for a visit.”

Five looked down at the ground. “I don’t think I can face him.”

Two frowned. “Why not?”

“Well, he only got hurt because I got kidnapped. If I’d been more careful and stuck closer to him then they wouldn’t have taken me,” said Five.

“It wasn’t your fault that those bastards decided to kidnap a teenage girl,” said Two, firmly. “You shouldn’t have needed to stay close to Three to be safe. This is entirely on them.”

“But it still feels like it was my fault. I should have at least been able to get free,” said Five, still not meeting Two’s eyes.

“From what Three said, it wasn’t exactly a fair fight. You’re not a trained fighter…” She received an annoyed look from Five at that, and quickly corrected herself. “Yet. You’re not a trained fighter _yet_. None of us would expect you to fight off three grown men on your own, especially without any weapons,” said Two. “You do get that, right?”

Five gave a nod. It was half-hearted and a little reluctant but Two thought that she’d got through to the kid.

 “I don’t know why he came after me on his own. Why didn’t he go and get you guys? It would have been safer if he’d had some backup.” She was at least looking at Two now, and there was that familiar spark of defiance in her eyes.

Two shrugged. “I expect he was worried that he’d lose your trail. With the GA jamming the coms it would have taken him a while to get to us and then back to you. And, come on. We all know that Three actually cares about you quite a lot and he’d never let anything happen to you if he could stop it. I know he pretends that he doesn’t give a shit, but we all know that’s just bluster.”

Five smiled this time. “Yeah, it really is, isn’t it? He tried to get me to leave when we were down on the planet by telling me that he wished that he’d spaced me when he had the chance. It was kind of cute that he thought it would work.”

Two smiled back. “Sounds like Three.” She thought for a second. “So do you want to come with me to the Infirmary and say hi? He’s a bit loopy on the painkillers, but he’s been awake a couple of times.”

“Actually, I’ve got something for him…”  Five was clearly thinking of something and Two didn’t miss the glint of mischievousness in her eye. Two reminded herself that Five loved to play practical jokes on Three and had some idea where this was going. She was going to make sure that Three knew nothing had changed between them despite their moment in the woods.

“Er, okay…” she replied. “Don’t be too mean to him. He did save your life.”

“I know,” said Five. “And I’m never going to forget it, but he won’t want anyone to fuss over him so this is how I tell him we care about him.”

Two laughed. “Okay, I get it. Do what you have to do.” She got to her feet. The crew of the Raza might be a bunch of reprobates and criminals but when they needed to be there for each other, they always were. She’d formed unexpected bonds here and instead of shying away from them, as she suspected Portia Lin would have done, Two found herself embracing them. She had been slightly surprised to find that Three had also succumbed, although she wasn’t sure when exactly that had happened.

“Two, this is Six. I need you in the Infirmary,” said Six, over the com.

“I’ll be right there.”

Five was looking worried. “Is something wrong?”

“Six wants me in the Infirmary,” said Two. “I’m sure it’s nothing. He’d have said if it was urgent.”

Five didn’t look completely convinced by that, but Two wasn’t lying. She really didn’t think Six would call her if it was an emergency without telling her. Besides, he’d be far more likely to call the Android, who could actually provide some help in a medical emergency.

“I’d better go and see what he wants,” said Two. “Are you going to be okay?”

Five nodded. “I’ll be fine. Go on and see what Six wants. Tell Three I’ll be down later.”

“Okay, I’ll do that, but you should get some food and sleep yourself before you visit.”

Five nodded again, her green curls bouncing. “Yeah, I guess it was kind of tiring.”

“Come on, I’ll walk with you back to your quarters, they’re on my way.”

Five reluctantly followed Two, and Two thought that perhaps Five had been hoping to do some more repair work rather than head to bed, but she looked like she desperately needed the rest. She left her at her quarters and headed on to the Infirmary.

Two did not expect the sight that greeted her as she came through the door. Three was not in his bed, he was sat on the floor with his blanket pulled around him. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin was pale and damp with sweat, and he held a gun, which was currently pointed at Six. He was shivering and definitely having trouble holding up the weapon.

“What the hell is going on?”

As soon as she spoke, Three swung the gun towards her.

“Woah,” said Two. “Put the gun down, Three.”

“His temperature’s up and I don’t think he’s exactly aware of reality right now. He grabbed my gun when I got up to help him with a drink of water,” said Six, who was standing very still, with his hands raised, palms out in a gesture of placation. Three transferred his attention and gun sights back to Six.

“Leave me alone,” ground out Three, his voice shaking but tense.

“Okay,” said Six, “I’m not going to come near you, but you need to get back into bed and let us reconnect the IV.”

Two noticed now that there was blood on Three’s arm where an IV had been.

“No…” said Three. Two noticed how his breathing was rapid and he seemed to wince at even the slightest movement. “I have to get out of here.” He attempted to push himself up against the wall but failed and ended up back where he was.

Two used his distraction by his attempt to get up to move in and get a hand around the gun. Three tried to pull it from her grasp but he was weak from his injury and fever, she hardly had to pull at all to get it out of his hands. For a moment he looked like he might hit her and then sort of crumpled in on himself.

“Hey, it’s us. It’s Two and Six. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s the fever. You’re on the Raza, in the Infirmary,” said Two, crouching down to Three’s level. She unobtrusively handed the gun backwards, and Six collected it and put it back in his hip holster.

Three frowned and looked at Two with bafflement. “How did I get down here?”

Two glanced back at Six. “You grabbed Six’s gun and got out of bed.”

“Oh,” said Three. “I feel terrible.”

“I bet you do,” said Two.

Six got a little closer. “Okay, let’s get you back to bed.”

Three nodded, somewhat half-heartedly and rested his head back against the wall.

Two moved to one side and Six took the other. Between them they got a mostly limp Three back to his bed. He wasn’t able to give them much help and sighed as he lay back on the bed. Two re-covered him with the blanket and Three closed his eyes.

Two touched her com. “Android, we need you in the Infirmary. Three pulled out his IV.”

“I am on my way,” said the Android.

She exchanged a worried look with Six. “I think someone should be with him at all times until his fever goes down.”

“Agreed,” replied Six, and turned to check Three’s vitals, even though he probably didn’t know what he was looking at.

The Android arrived a few minutes later. “His temperature is higher than I was anticipating. I will add an anti-pyretic to his medication. Perhaps I should have sedated him.”

Three was shaking his head with clear dismay, eyes only half open. “No, no, no. I’d rather not be any more out of it.”

Two sighed. “I don’t think we should sedate him if he doesn’t want it.”

“He took my gun,” pointed out Six.

“Yeah, but he didn’t get very far,” said Two.

“He could have shot me!” said Six.

Two nodded, “but he didn’t. He could have shot you at any time, but he didn’t.”

“It’s hard to shoot at two targets at once,” mumbled Three.

“Still seeing double?” asked Two.

“The painkillers can have that effect,” said the Android. She was busy finding a vein to reinsert the IV.

“Can’t focus on anything,” said Three. “Easier to just keep my eyes shut.”

 “You should probably just get some sleep,” said Two, unable to keep the concern out of her voice. The Android didn’t seem to be worried though and hooked up the new IV and then moved onto cleaning up the old IV site.

“Yeah, yeah,” replied Three, but didn’t open his eyes. “Still feel terrible.”

“The increased antipyretics should begin to work soon. I have also increased your painkiller dosage.” The Android regarded her patient’s vital signs for a moment before checking the IV.

Three unexpectedly began to hum a tune.

Two and Six exchanged a concerned look. Two was somewhat surprised by the humming because she’d never really considered Three to be at all musical before. Three surprised her further by adding a few mumbled words, sung in tune but not exactly loudly. It was a pleasant melody, but not one that she recognised.

“Singing,” said Six. “He’s singing. First he tries to steal my gun and now he’s humming a tune.”

“I think I may have increased his painkillers above what was required,” said the Android, who was concluding her ministrations.

“Yeah, I think you might have,” replied Two, unable to stop herself from smiling. “But he seems happy about it, so maybe we should just leave him like this until his fever comes down and then hopefully we won’t have any more incidents with guns.”

Three’s eyes peeled open and his forehead creased into a frown. “How am I singing something that I don’t remember ever hearing?”

“I’d guess it’s sort of the same thing as muscle memory,” said Six. “Maybe the painkillers are helping to shake it loose.”

“Maybe. I probably won’t remember it later then,” said Three, and he sounded a bit disappointed by that.

“We can record it, perhaps it’ll be enough to jog your memory and pull it to the surface again,” said Two.

She looked at the Android, who nodded in acknowledgement.

“It’s a lullaby,” said Nyx’s voice from the door. Two turned to see her leaning against the door way. “I’ve heard it before. I’d guess it’s something from his childhood.”

Three was already singing it again. This time it was stronger and less hesitant. Two liked it and Three actually had a pleasant voice. They listened as he finished and then his eyes fell shut, as if the singing had been the only thing keeping him awake.

“He is asleep,” said the Android. “I suggest you let him rest. I will stay with him, but his temperature does appear to be going down.”

Two let out a sigh of relief. “I can stay with him. You should help Five with the ship.”

“I believe that you need sleep as much as Three, perhaps more since I am aware that you haven’t slept since returning from the planet.”

Two gave the Android an annoyed look, however she realised that she was right and now that she came to think about it, she was tired. She glanced at Three again, reassuring herself that he was calm and properly asleep this time.

She gave in. “Okay, but call me if he takes a turn for the worse again.”

“Of course,” said the Android. “I suggest that the rest of you also get some sleep at this point.”

Six nodded. “Good idea.”

Three mumbled something in his sleep, but it didn’t sound unhappy, so Two decided that it was okay to leave. She headed down the corridor and back to her quarters, humming a song as she did. It was Three’s lullaby.

***

Two awoke the next day feeling better for a good night’s sleep. The Android informed her that Three had improved considerably over night and his fever had disappeared. When she stopped in to see him, he was sitting up in bed and whilst clearly still tired and sore, his colour was improving.

“Hey,” he said, as she entered the room. “I hear I was a handful yesterday.”

“That’s definitely one way of putting it. You’re looking better.”

“I’m feeling better, and I’m not seeing double anymore. Although, that’s because the Android took me off the fun drugs,” said Three, with slight disappointment. He still wasn’t moving fluently, and she recognised the taut lines of pain that were still on his face if he tried to shift too quickly. “Give it another day and I’ll be up and about.”

“Yeah, well, don’t try to do too much. We can afford for you to have some recovery time,” said Two.

“Thanks, boss,” said Three, with an amused smile.

Two returned the smile.

“I’ll come by again later,” said Two. “Some of us have work to do.”

He nodded, and settled back against his pillows, definitely still tired and with a lot of healing to do. “Later,” he said.

She headed out of the Infirmary and nearly bumped into Five.

“Hi,” said Two. She noticed that Five had a dish with something in it with her. “Are you on your way to see Three?”

Five nodded with a grin. She was definitely planning something. “Yeah, I figure he’s on the mend now and I’ve made him wait long enough.”

“Okay,” said Two. “But don’t blame me if this starts something.”

“I can handle it,” replied Five, smirking, and heading into the Infirmary.

Two was certain that she could. The question was, could Three handle Five?

 

 


End file.
